Raijin and Rinoa (Patreon)
Content
I'm aware FF8 has it's detractors and that they have excellent points. Yes the battle system is the most broken of any since FF2, yes protagonist Squall is pretty much a slight revision of Cloud, the hero of the previous game. And it certainly was the first game to throw some beloved FF staples out the window, such as it did with it's borderline modern real world setting. Sure it had magic floating schools but I could also rent a car to get around? What the hell man?!
But for me the game had a lot going for it, the first of which was quite superficial I'll admit. See, my first RPG was a game called Chrono Trigger, arguably one of the best games of the genre to this day. So my standards for RPGs were through the roof by default. When I played Final Fantasy 7 and found that your party members didn't follow you in real time as you explored like in Chrono Trigger, but instead magically popped out of your hero's back when needed, it really hurt the immersion for me.
FF8 not only fixed that but added more stuff I liked. For example while Cloud was an asshole because of his twisted past, Squall was a jerk because he simply wasn't a people person, which was something I could relate to at the time. (And kind of still can.) And while at first I was skeptical about a full party of characters that were...well, all teenage humans, (no genetic wolf experiments or talking plush toys?! Bo-ring!) I eventually appreciated how much a unified front made the team just make sense within the context of its world.
And lastly, I appreciated how personally connected the hero was to the story, it was his childhood rival that was the enemy, his love interest that drove the plot, and his fellow students whose lives were on the line. Too often in RPGs your hero is just along for the ride, doing his job but not personally invested. (I'm looking at you FF12.)
But hey that's just me, I'd love to know what you guys think! I'm a huge fan of the series and don't think I've ever played a bad one, even if FF13 did take about 20 hours to get good I'll still defend it. Feel free to let me know what your favorite Final Fantasy is and why! :D